How Does ReadyForZero Work?

When you swipe that first swipe on a credit card or sign on the dotted line for a loan, doesn’t it always seem like it will be so easy to pay off? You think, “I’ll just stick to this budget and by x months or years the debt will be gone.” Easy! So why doesn’t it ever actually turn out that way?

I used to have credit card debt and I remember looking at the bill and wondering how it was possible that the number on the bill never went down. For the life of me I couldn’t figure out why. I didn’t think I was using my card that much and I always paid over the minimum. So what was the deal?

First of all, minimum payments are designed to keep you in debt for as long as humanly possible. This may not be true for fixed loans such as a mortgage or student loans, but it is absolutely true for credit cards. If you pay only the minimum on your credit card it could be years before you pay it off – no matter what your balance is. And if you’re still charging on the card you are trying to pay off? Well, let’s just say you could be in debt purgatory for most of your adult life.

Not convinced even a small amount of credit card debt can take years to pay off? Use this calculator to see for yourself.

No matter what type of debt you’re trying to pay off, only a targeted approach can help you pay it off as fast as possible. That’s where ReadyForZero comes in.

How ReadyForZero Can Help you Pay Your Debt off Faster

Why is it so important to have a targeted approach? Think about it this way. Let’s say you have multiple debt accounts and you pay over the minimum each month. Can you tell me the impact each of those extra payments makes on your total debt picture? Can you quantify how much faster it will help you pay off your debt? Or do you feel frustrated because you’re not seeing the true impact of your payments?

If you’re anything like I was, then you’re probably feeling more frustration than satisfaction. That’s because billing statements aren’t designed to make it easy for you to see the impact of each of your payments. And spreading extra funds across all of your debt is simply not an efficient way to pay it off faster.

What ReadyForZero does is show you the big picture and create a targeted payoff focus. First of all, linking all of your debt accounts to your ReadyForZero account enables you to finally see your entire debt picture and the day you will become debt-free if you don’t make any changes. This is information you simply can’t access easily by viewing statements.

How the debt avalanche works is you continue paying the same amount of money on your debt each month, even after some accounts are paid off. For example, when your first target account is paid off, you would apply whatever you were paying on that on top of the minimum payment for your new target account. This continues on until the day you are debt-free. Just like an avalanche, you pick up steam as accounts continue to get paid off and your debt gets paid off faster and faster.

What’s the best thing about the debt avalanche method? Aside from being simple and effective, it will help you pay your debt off faster even if you can’t afford to pay over your minimum payments. As long as you can afford the base monthly amount of minimum payments on your debt now and throughout the rest of your plan, you will pay your debt off faster than you would have without using this method. And if you can afford to pay over your minimum, then you’ll just get to pay it off even faster! Just remember, anything you pay extra or over your minimum payment must be applied to your target account only in order to maintain this targeted payoff method.

How ReadyForZero PLUS Can Improve Your Payoff Plan

There’s no question that in ReadyForZero’s free tool you have everything you need to pay your debt off faster. But what if you’d like a little more help? That’s where ReadyForZero PLUS comes in. If you upgrade to ReadyForZero PLUS, you can take your plan to the next level by ensuring that you never miss a beat.

1) Make Payments with ReadyForZero PLUS

One way to ensure that you stay on top of your plan is to automate your payments. With ReadyForZero PLUS, you can schedule payments one at a time, monthly, or biweekly on any account that you’ve linked to your ReadyForZero account. You won’t have to worry about forgetting a due date or spending time writing checks or logging in to all of your lender’s websites to make your payments. Just set them while you’re on your ReadyForZero account and you’re good to go.

2) Monitor Your Credit Score with ReadyForZero PLUS

One fun byproduct of paying your debt off is that your credit score will inevitably increase as your debt decreases. With ReadyForZero PLUS, you can monitor your credit score each month to see how you’re doing. Consider this your report card for your financial health. When you log in to your ReadyForZero account, you can simply view your credit score on the sidebar – which updates monthly – and never have to wonder about how you’re doing! And not to worry, this won’t affect your credit score.

Upgrading to ReadyForZero PLUS allows you to have a complete financial picture as you travel the road to debt payoff. Without going to any other website, you can create a plan, make payments on your plan, and view your credit score to monitor your progress! This full package is everything you need in your financial toolkit to help you achieve financial freedom.

ReadyForZero Is By Your Side Every Day

We know what it’s like to struggle with debt. That’s why it’s so important to us that we help you achieve freedom from debt and work to eliminate this problem once and for all for everyone! Join our community so you can see how users just like you are doing and to talk to us directly on Facebook! We want to hear how your journey is going and help you in every way we can.

And to make sure you truly have everything you need to tackle debt, we’ve also got a blog and resource centers in which you can find anything you need to know to improve your financial situation. Finally, if you have any questions for us, feedback, or trouble with your account, you can always reach us at help@readyforzero.com. We can’t wait to hear from you!

This post was published by Shannon, Community and Customer Support Manager for » ReadyForZero.
ReadyForZero is a company that helps people get out of debt on their own with a simple and free online tool that can automate and track your debt paydown.

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ReadyforZero has really helped me focus on eliminating my student debt. It is very empowering to see how quickly extra payments can help eliminate debt.

Shannon_ReadyForZero

Wow, I’m so glad that we’ve been able to help you! Student loan debt is a hard long battle for so many of us (me included!) and seeing those payments make an impact really does make a difference. Please keep us posted on how everything goes for you!

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Link all your debts or tell us what you owe, sit back while we create a personalized plan, then prepare to conquer your debt. Include credit card debt, student loan debt, mortgages, auto loans, medical debt, and any other type of debt you want to tackle.